Virupaksha Cave

A unique cave as it is in the shape of the syllable “Om”, with a vestibule with a reclining stone "couch" outside the main cave. There is an excellent on the cave which gives many details of Ramana's time there and some rare pics of the interior.

The cave derives its name from Virupaksha Deva, a renowned 13th century saint. It is believed that Virupaksha spent most of his life in this cave and surroundings. Legends tell that his body turned into ashes just after his Samadhi. The sacred ash (vibhuti) is assumed to be preserved here on the altar.

Ramana was in total mouna/silence until he gave his famous "upadesa"/teaching to Ganapati Muni in 1907 on the nature of "tapas"/spiritual practice which resulted in his being renamed Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi from his birth name Venkataraman Iyer. This has long been one of my favorite meditation spots. Virupaksha Cave We climbed to the cave by the "steep, rough, smelly" route from Tiruvannamalai, which passes through some of the poorer parts of the town with poor or no sanitation; cow dung for heating and cooking is often being dried on the stones alongside the path.As we arrived at the cave early, i was able to secure the "best" spot, one i knew well, in the dark corner on the right hand side, out of the path from the door to the "altar" where folk often traveled to bow, sit for a few minutes and leave. This was particularly important as the entire Ramanasramam "scene" has become much more popular and the cave, normally deserted except for a "cave watcher" when i was there 12 years ago, was now full of folk coming and going, and now had a "pujari" or altar attendant doing much fussing around with wick tending, lamp filling, etc. at least until about 9 when things started to thin out significantly.

During the first hour, i could feel a great energy with a strong compelling feel to it coming from the approximate region of the altar, but couldn't really fully connect with it. As folk thinned out, i surrendered into it, and a huge energy flowed into "me".